Have you ever driven down County Farm Road and wondered what the story was behind this tiny cemetery that looks like it has only one grave, no parking, and no admittance to the public?

It’s called the Jackson County Cemetery…if so, shouldn’t there be many, many more graves there?

This little patch of land is where unknowns were buried…former inhabitants of the Jackson County Poor Farm. Even though there is a single white cross smack dab in the center, it stands for the many dead who are there…no numbers, no identification, no stones…just a sole cross and unmarked graves…some of them only three feet deep.

Records and inmate documentation were all lost in a fire, but not before approximately 25 names were uncovered.

History of the poor farm goes back to 1839 when plans began to house the blind, deaf, homeless, insane, and poor. Housing around 33 people, the house burned down in 1886. A new one arose the following year.

Beginning in the 1940s, poor farms began to disappear, and this one closed in 1963, with the residents being moved to a new location.

In 1967, the home was slated to be demolished, but sparks from a fire and a windy day took care of that. Now all that remains is the graveyard.

JACKSON POOR FARM CEMETERY

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